Boilers hold off Rams; Galva goes to 4-0 in LTC

Friday

Jan 18, 2013 at 10:43 PMJan 18, 2013 at 10:46 PM

Boys high school basketball roundup

Mike Landis

Kewanee 78,Riverdale 73The Boilers jumped out to a fast start Friday night, and needed every bit of that early lead to hold off Riverdale in front of a big crowd at Brockman Gym.Kewanee scored the first nine and last nine points of the opening quarter to build a 26-11 bulge.The sharp shooting of Riverdale’s Jared Richmond pulled the Rams within 30-24 three minutes into the second frame, but the Boilers stretched the lead back to 39-28 at the half.“We talked about having a great crowd tonight. They were behind us and supported us,” said Kewanee coach Steve Salisbury. “We came out great and then we just let up on defense and let Richmond loose quite a bit.”Riverdale trimmed the deficit to 45-38 with three minutes left in the third quarter, but a pair of Dayton Ince treys helped Kewanee extend its lead to 55-43 going into what proved to be a wild final eight minutes.Riverdale opened the fourth quarter with an 8-2 run, but Kewanee seemingly took control on a Donovan Oliver bucket with 3:36 remaining to make it 67-53.Richmond, who missed the bulk of the third quarter when he was shaken up on a breakaway foul, answered with three straight hoops to bring the Rams within 67-59 with two minutes to play.The Boilers led 74-63 at the minute mark, but the Rams converted a six-point play as Richmond was fouled and the Kewanee bench picked up a technical foul. Richmond nailed all four free throws and Mitchell Sand scored on the ensuing possession to make it 74-69 with 46 seconds remaining.The Rams missed a pair of 3-pointers that would’ve made it a one-possession game, and Ince sealed the win by knocking down four free throws in the closing seconds.“We talk about that all the time in practice — when we get teams down we haven’t been able to deliver the knockout punch all year long,” said Salisbury. “We have to learn how to put teams away. It seems like we’re in tight games all the time.” Richmond led all scorers with 32 points. Oliver paced a balanced Kewanee attack with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Ince added 17 points, followed by Dalton Nuding with 13 and Gustafson with 12.“We have eight guys that can consistently score, and normally we get four guys in double figures which is big for us,” said Salisbury.Kewanee moves to 16-3 overall and a perfect 9-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.The Riveters won the sophomore opener over Riverdale 44-29.Cody Goforth topped Kewanee with 19 points and seven steals. The Riveters are 11-7 overall and 7-2 in the TRAC-9.

Galva 45, ROWVA 41The Wildcats held off a pesky ROWVA squad to remain unbeaten in the Lincoln Trail Conference Friday night.Rhett Hoxworth scored nine points in the opening half as the Cats held a slim 19-18 lead at the break.Reece Hoxworth tallied six in the third quarter as Galva extended the lead to 32-28, and Dexter Ingels helped preserve the margin with seven points in the final frame.Ingels and Reece Hoxworth finished with 12 apiece for Galva (14-2), and Rhett Hoxworth added 11.ROWVA’s Kyle Woodside led all scorers with 13 points.

Stark County 54,Knoxville 42Tanner King poured in 26 points as the Rebels stepped outside the Lincoln Trail Conference for a road win Friday night.Jake Berchtold added nine points for the Rebels, who posted their sixth straight win to improve to 8-10 on the season.

West Central 74, Annawan 66Colin Rothzen led four West Central players in double figures with 20 points as the Heat picked up the LTC win in Annawan Friday night.Annawan’s Michael Smith led all scorers with 24 points. Grant Baele added 16 for the Braves and Tony Gripp finished with 15.

Ridgewood 60,United 39The Spartans improved to 3-1 in the Lincoln Trail with Friday night’s home win.James Brooks paced Ridgewood with 16 points, followed by Elisha McCreary with 14.